Just like home
by bitca27
Summary: The scooby gang end up in England after the destruction of Sunnydale, but quickly discover things are not going to be so different... post chosen. Many more chapters to come.


The ageing Englishman dropped his bags down beside him, searching his worn brown jacket for his wallet to pay the taxi drivers the outrageous charge for the short journey they had travelled from the airport. After the taxis speeded out of sight, the man and his accomplices made their way up the winding overgrown path, towards the large manor in front of them. The place was old; the stonework eroded by the often harsh weather around the area. However, the building still had a sort of ornate charm; the climbing plants engulfing the front gave it an almost homely feel. The party heading towards it however, would use it for so much more; a new beginning.

"Geez, how much did this place cost?" joked one of the party. The others ignored him, obviously used to his manner. The man reached up to his eye, or at least, where it should have been. Instead, an eye-patch covered the socket.

"Xander, don't scratch!" scolded the youngest of the group, a teenage girl with long, dark hair. She grabbed his arm, pulling it away from his face.

"Why not? It isn't as if my eye's gonna suddenly grow back… that would be creepy…" he answered, keeping his hands down.

"Xander, don't be gross…" the girl replied.

"C'mon Dawn, when would I ever do that?" he replied. "So… uhh… bangers and mash for dinner then?" He asked. Once again, Xander was left unanswered.

The small group reached the door of the manor, the Englishman once again searching his jacket for something. After many frantic minutes, he found the key, and proceeded to open the large, old fashioned doors. The group rushed past him, into their new sanctuary.

-----

"Thank you; just take them into the library, third door on the left, to your right…"

"Yes sir, mister Giles," replied the young woman, who was carrying a large box of old books. Another girl came in, dropping a larger box at Giles' feet. The ages of dust jumped up into his face, causing him to splutter.

"Kennedy… follow… Carol…" He managed to get out through his violent coughing attack. The girl rolled her eyes, and proceeded to follow Carol into the library. They were still unpacking Giles' personal books even after the first few days, but having a half a dozen slayers help did speed the process up quite considerably. Giles followed the girls into the newly created library, and took in his new home. The room was tall and hollow, now padded by stacks of his books and unpacked boxes. The large window at the end of the room let in a stream of soft light, highlighting all the dust from his belongings as it floated around the room. Giles, out of habit, removed his glasses and began rubbing them with the bottom of his shirt. All of a sudden, a large crash came from the main hall behind him, followed by a squeal of pain. Giles rolled his eyes as he saw a mousy boy lying next to a box of books.

"Andrew, do get up. You're wasting time," Giles remarked, as he made his way back to the boy to help him up.

"But… why does it matter? All we're doing is unpacking your books..." Andrew whined, now rubbing his foot.

"You know why we're here. The council. Now come on," Giles answered, helping Andrew to his feet. "Get these books into the library."

As Andrew struggled away with the book, Xander came down the staircase slowly, concentrating as he did so.

"Are you alright, Xander?" enquired Giles.

"Yeah, just still getting used to this deal where I'm half blind," Xander joked to the watcher. "You heard anything from Buffy and Will?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure they are getting along fine. They'll be here soon, I'm sure of it." Giles answered. He had sent the pair to round up a few new slayers around the country, just so Giles could brief them on their calling. He being the only Watcher left gave him a lot of responsibility; of course, the fact that every potential was now a slayer had good points and bad points – good being that basically, if they didn't want to answer their calling, the girl wouldn't really need to anymore. There were plenty more slayers to do the job. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have an army of them. The bad point, however, was finding them all. Any that could be contacted had to be – these girls had suddenly gained amazing strengths and powers from nowhere, and were bound to be confused or scared. Giles had also sent Faith over to the continent – there were a few known potentials in France, Germany and Spain, so she was handling that. All in all, Giles felt he was doing quite a good job, considering the circumstances.

Another loud bang pulled Giles away from his thoughts; Andrew was on the floor again, this time furiously rubbing his knee.

---

Giles shone the torch towards his right, keeping low. The cold night wind clawed at his face as he cautiously stepped forward, through the darkness. A sharp noise sounded to his left. After signalling to Xander and a few of the new slayers, he turned off his torch, relying on the moonlight for some form of sight. The small patrol edged forwards, tightly packed together while on the hunt. Suddenly, a human figure fell from the tree above them, laughing coldly as it did so. The vampire, however, had barely touched the ground when at least five stakes had been put through its heart; its laughter turned to a gasp as it became dust.

Giles, who had (as usual) ended up knocked over, took Xander's hand to pull himself up, rubbing the mud off of his coat. As Giles turned on the torch again to check for injuries, Xander put his stake back into his coat pocket, then pulled his hands through his hair.

"Well guys, I think its safe to say – this place feels just like home."


End file.
